Eight Keys and a Crystal
by WrittenInSilence
Summary: Something terrible has happened in the Ethereal Realm and now, it's up to Artix, Galanoth, and three heroes to save it. But when the whole dimension is changing itself, just to hinder them, can they succeed? Need help for a new title. Rating to be safe.
1. Chapter 1

"What's wrong, Jackel?" Warlic asked. The wizard just popped right into Warlic's shop from a portal. His clothes were ragged and he was pale, more so than usual. His grey eyes were alight with worry and he scanned around the shop.

"Warlic!" His voice was urgent, harsh.

"Yes?"

"The Ethereal Realm! It's collapsing!"

"What's this about?" Galanoth asked. He yawned, this being around 2 in the morning. "We were all still sleeping."

If one listened closely, they could hear Linn mutter, "Speak for yourself. I was just about to have dinner." And if one looked closer, a pair of unnaturally long teeth could just be seen poking out of her mouth.

"Yes, I want to know what this is about as well,"Imelza said. Her hair was tousled and her White Wizard robes messily thrown on. A light blue and silver staff was in her hand which was marked by numerous scars.

Inside Warlic's shop, seven heroes were gathered. Warlic, Jackel Sano, Artix, Galanoth, Dante, Linn, and Imelza were all there, the last five having no idea whatsoever as to why they were called.

"Sumthin wrong?" Artix asked, looking extremely sleepy. His axe was in his hand, reflecting the candlelight directly into Dante's eyes, shortening his already tiny temper. Dante's eyes were squinted, him not quite being able to see properly. Unfortunately, nobody seemed to notice his problem.

Warlic and Jackel Sano gave each other a glance. There was a silent agreement between the two. Then, Jackel took a deep breath and repeated what he had said to Warlic about half an hour before.

"The Ethereal Realm is collapsing." There was a slight pause before anybody's sleep-deprived brain could catch the meaning of those words. That someone was Imelza. And she didn't like what she heard. Not a single bit.

"What do you mean it's collapsing?!" she hissed. All traces of sluggishness were gone; she looked hyper-alert now. More than that, really. She seemed absolutely furious. "Does that mean the Crystal is gone?!"

"We don't know. But we need to find the Crystal to fix it," Warlic said.

"What crystal?" Dante asked, shifting so the light wasn't in his eyes. "Like a diamond or what?" He rubbed them once before smiling, satisfied. He glanced around and saw the grim faces of Warlic, Jackel Sano, and Imelza, who were all avid magic users.

"Well, you could say that the Crystal keeps the seams of the Ethereal Realm. Take away the Crystal and the Ethereal Realm falls apart," Imelza explained, choosing her words very carefully.

"Not quite," Jackel murmured. "The Crystal is what keeps all of the Ethereal Realm's magic. Take it away and all wizards based in the Ethereal Realm lose their magical abilities. And all spells will basically become useless. Mana will become inaccessible for eternity." He turned to everyone. "And don't forget that Mana is what keeps your Life Force anchored in this world. If Mana is useless, everyone will die."

"I didn't know that." Imelza blinked once.

"It's only revealed to the wizards who spend most of their time in the Ethereal Realm. Also, the Crystal can be molded," Warlic added.

"Which means?" Galanoth grumbled, not liking the roundabout talk one single bit. He was used to straight to the point talk as most of the time, when he appeared, there was usually a crisis and they had to get at it right away.

"That anyone can change everything in the Ethereal Realm," Jackel finished.

". . .That sounds bad."

"Shut up, Mutt," Linn, who was a vampire, snarled at Dante, who was a werewolf. Dante bristled up but unfortunately, he did not have hackles at the moment. If he did, he surely would've raised them. He struggled to bite back a remark but failed to do so.

"What about you, Leech?"

"You want to fight, Flea Bag?"

"Only if you want to, Blood Sucker." The two were staring each other down, each of their characteristics coming to light, no pun intended.

Linn grew fangs and her skin turned ghostly white. Her eyes became bloodshot and strange markings appeared on her face. They looked like lightning bolts, in copper-red, arcing down her forehead to her jawline. Her eyes radiated bloodlust; she had obviously not fed for a long time. And finally, two small lumps on her neck became clearly visible, obviously the bite from the vampire that sired her.

Dante's nails turned to claws and a bushy, rough tail poked out behind him. Fur grew all over his body and his nose elongated into a snout. His teeth sharpened and grew longer while his eyes turned a golden yellow color. Like Linn's, they too were filled with a plea for blood. Saliva dripped from his snout onto the floor, just about the only sound there was. The two watched each other closely, a growl occasionally escaping from Dante's throat.

Sighing, Galanoth stomped over and pried them off each other. He handed Linn to Imelza and dropped Dante on the opposite side of the shop. He growled once more and tried to claw at and bite at Galanoth's hand but Galanoth stopped him with a vicious glare (though his face was hidden).

"There. Happy now?" he asked viciously. Both 'eep'ed and nodded quite vigorously. Galanoth trudged back to his spot, his head drooping, all traces of viciousness quickly disappearing as the loss of sleep caught up with him. He all but slammed his side against the wall of Warlic's shop, making the ingredients on the shelf jerk suddenly. A vial or two dropped but thankfully landed on the many sacks next to the cauldron.

"Thank you Galanoth," Warlic muttered.

"Back on topic now," Imelza said, shaking Linn heavily on the shoulders. Linn bared her fangs at Imelza a few times but the problems were quickly solved when Imelza, very frustrated, punched Linn hard on the cheek. That left Linn with a nasty looking bruise that would probably last for a few days. Imelza put the dazed Linn against a wall and turned to the others.

"Right. So, we need to find the Crystal. Hopefully, we can fix the Ethereal Realm. If that isn't possible, save the Crystal and make a new Ethereal Realm," Warlic said. _'Although it would be very risky. Half of BattleOn might be blown up in the process...'_

"Make a new one?" Artix asked.

"Yes. If the Crystal is recovered, we can use it as a template to 'restart' the Ethereal Realm," Jackel Sano answered. "That way, the Ethereal Realm can be rebuilt to be exactly as it is supposed to be." He looked around the shop. _'Though I wouldn't really consider it normal as it is.' _

"And why does this concern us?" Galanoth asked, pointing to himself, Artix, Linn, and Dante. He did not want to waste any time doing some silly quest that could be handled without him. Besides, he really should be getting back to DragonStone.

"Because all class skills, excepting the use of Skill, require Mana. And if the Ethereal Realm is destroyed, Mana basically goes kaput," Imelza said. She made a motion with her hands akin to something blowing up. Dante, Linn, Galanoth and Artix turned to each other. A similar look of alarm was evident on all their faces and they nodded.

"We're in," they said simultaneously. Imelza gave a sly glance towards Jackel Sano and Warlic.

"Toldja they would join if I said that."


	2. Chapter 2

"I'm sorry we can't go," Warlic said. "We have to keep the portal open. We would go if portals just stay open indefinitely like they used to but that doesn't happen anymore. Sorry." Jackel Sano stood next to him, trying to open a portal with pure mana. An extremely large bag of mana potions were next to the two, signifying how hard it was to open a portal now.

"No problem Warlic! Just give us a day or two. You know time passes more quickly over there." Imelza grabbed her staff and a pocketwatch which was specially tuned to the time in the Ethereal Realm, also remembering to take an enchanted amulet for Linn.

"Sun shines eternally in most parts there. It may be messed up because the Realm's falling apart but better to be safe than sorry," was how Imelza explained it the last night.

Imelza sighed as she stepped through the portal. She took one last glance at the two magi and turned to face the strange swirling transporter before her. She stepped in and almost immediately, she began falling through a black and white dimension. She felt her stomach twist and the feeling of sea-sickness filled her body. She fought back the urge to throw up and finally, she was dumped into a red world.

The whole world was a bloody red color. The stench of rotting flesh and blood filled the air and everyone had to fight the urge to gag. Bones stuck out of the rocky cliffs surrounding them and half-rotten carcasses were strewn haphazardly on the tops of giant boulders, displayed like trophies. Shriveled up tree stumps dotted the area, adding an intensified feeling of death to the area. She shivered and closed her eyes for a second. Coming here always made her queasy.

"What is this?" Artix asked.

"You have to go through this dimension before getting to the Ethereal Realm!" Imelza yelled as the wind began to pick up. "It's pretty much a buffer zone. This keeps most of the harmful energies out of the normal world."

Everyone's mouth formed into an 'O' and they nodded. "This dimension is where almost all the monsters are. We'll be fine if we don't run into-" A bright light shone onto the group. Everyone guarded their eyes as a reflex action and yet again, Artix's axe pointed the light directly into Dante's eyes. It was almost as if a spotlight were trained on them. In all actuality, it was a spotlight. A very, very large one.

"Now please welcome our five contestants!" a loud, booming voice announced. Imelza's head whipped around and she saw a large green demon standing there, wearing a clown suit.

"-the Green Jester. . ." she finished. The demon raised its, imaginary, eyebrows as it glanced at her.

"Ah, Champion Imelza. Welcome back! Trying for a fourth title? We see you've brought some different acquaintances this time."

"Let us pass Jester," Imelza said stonily.

"No can do," he said amicably, playing with a pair of strange, oversized, eyeglasses. He snapped his fingers in front of another demon who nodded. The second demon set up a teleportation spell to them. In an instant, they were taken to another part of the buffer zone, this one set up like an arena.

The basic lay of the land was the same, but walls were set up around to make a circular field. Cameras, amazingly bright lights, shining with just about the same intensity as the sun, and microphones were put all around, aimed at different parts of the field. Linn was suddenly very thankful of the amulet the Imelza had given her.

"You must defeat all of the monsters thrown in at you. You can choose the style of the battle," the Green Jester explained. He gestured to the arena. "You will fight all the monsters here. If you cannot defeat them, this arena will become your grave."

"Huddle!" Dante called out. The group turned to each other, making sure that Dante and Linn stayed on the opposite side of each other.

"Battle Royale," Imelza said immediately. Everybody stared at her. "The monsters he throws at us are always the same. They're an Undead Giant, Light Dragon, Dracovamp Lord, Alpha Dracowolf, and a Sun Eater. Nothing we can't handle."

Everyone's face grew into smirks as they heard which monsters they would be facing. But then, Artix thought of something.

"Wouldn't it be better to go one on one?" Imelza shook her head.

"No. The Jester chooses the order of the matches and the participants. Besides, that way, we have each others' backs in a Battle Royale."

"Sounds good. Let's go!" Dante rolled up imaginary sleeves and grinned widely. Linn rolled her eyes and flexed her fists.

"Battle Royale," Galanoth said. The Jester smirked and everyone got a very bad feeling from it. He slowly drew a large remote control out of a hidden pocket on his overly large puffy pants.

"Ah, just what I wanted to hear. I think you'll find this challenge quite. . .different from your idea of a Battle Royale." With that, he snapped his fingers. The monsters that Imelza mentioned popped out and started to charge. Then, the Jester pressed down on a large button on a remote.

Immediately, every demon in the immediate vicinity snapped their heads around. And, like the monsters, they attacked.

"What?!" Linn roared. She grabbed her FireBlood Blade and attempted to stab the Alpha Dracowolf. She missed and instead, the Undead Giant's shoulder was where it got stuck. Linn yanked it out but stumbled right into Galanoth, sending them both tumbling down.

"Gerrof!!" Galanoth yelled, instincts overpowering his natural chivalry. Linn growled and jumped to her feet and helped Galanoth up. She glanced around the battlefield, not liking what she was seeing.

Artix was cornered by at least three Light Demons, all hell bent on tearing him to shreds with their blades. Dante was pinned to the ground by a Fire Demon and wrestling with it, trying to fend off two Undead Giants at the same time. Imelza was backed to the wall by two Searloks, one Dracovamp Lord, and two Ice Demons. She had her staff out but had no chance for attack as they all assaulted her from different directions.

"Watch out!!" Linn was brought back to reality by Galanoth's cry. She snapped her head around and saw a Fire Demon, preparing to attack her, a humongous fireball in its hands. An insane grin was on its face, drool dripping from its mouth which was filled with large, pointy teeth. Then, in a split second, she knew. She wouldn't get out of the way in time.


	3. Chapter 3

She saw it throwing its hand back. She shut her eyes for a second or two. Nothing happened.

Opening her eyes once more, she saw a Guardian Blade sticking out of the Demon's stomach. She glanced beyond it and Dante stood there, his arm outstretched. He was scowling and an Ultra Ice Katana was clutched in his other hand. The monsters around him were clawed to shreds, his Lycan instincts most probably taking over for a short while.

"Next time, you won't be so lucky," he said tonelessly. He sped over and grabbed his sword, returning to the battle at hand. Shaking herself out of her stupor, she grabbed her own sword and charged into an Alpha Dracowolf, not wanting to be saved by Dante, by anyone, again.

Then, a brighter-than-a-LightBringer's-attack burst of light smacked right into the group. All monsters, excepting the Light Demons, yowled and clutched at their eyes, if they had sufficient limbs to do so. Monsters who didn't have enough limbs screeched and tried to turn away from the light. Said limbs floundered about uselessly on the ground. Everyone turned to see Imelza with her staff glowing a dim gold. A large spot of blood could be seen on her left side along with a gash in her robes.

"Run!!" They didn't need to be told twice. As the monsters around them disintegrated into tiny pieces of dust, they ran. The Light Demons and the Green Jester stared at the fleeing group, bewildered, and suddenly got their wits about them.

"After them!!" the Jester roared. The Super-Light Demons, pumped up after the blinding flash of light, immediately gave chase. The group pushed themselves to the limit, running for all their worth. However, it was painfully obvious that the Demons were gaining on them. If one looked back, they could see the Light Demons' wings beating lazily, not even trying to keep up. Their swords hung from their hands, gleaming brightly. What appeared to be yellow saliva dripped from their mouths onto the ground, leaving a trail.

"What now?!" Artix asked, turning his head around to glance at the others. Linn wasn't far behind, Dante was just a few steps behind her. Galanoth however, was lagging behind with Imelza, him helping her as she was injured. His chivalry got the best of him after noticing how much trouble Imelza was having.

"Left! There's a portal there!" Imelza pointed to their left and sure enough, there was a slowly shrinking portal there. She did a few quick calculations in her head. She gritted her teeth as she came to her conclusion. The portal was shrinking to fast. Plus, they were tiring quickly. The demons, however, still had a lot of energy. Portals only came up once every half hour in this part of the dimension, maybe up to once every hour. The demons would catch them for sure if they missed this portal.

"We're not going to make it!" Dante yelled, summarizing Imelza's entire train of thought. Imelza glanced behind her and saw the Demons only a few meters behind them. Willing herself to run faster, she conjured up a ball of pure mana in her hands.

She threw her hand backwards, the ball quickly turning into a beam, pushing the team even faster to the portal. Artix, Linn, Dante, and Galanoth zipped through with no problem. But not Imelza. A claw gripped her cloak tightly, nearly choking her as she sped through the portal. It closed.

"Imelza! You alright?" Linn asked.

"I'm fine. It's the demon that has to worry now. Once the troupe finds out about its weakness, it'll most likely be mauled and left for dead." Everybody looked confused. Imelza sighed as she held up the end of her cloak. A collective gasp echoed throughout the group. A yellow claw was stuck there, its grip not weakening, not even after being severed from its owner's arm.

"What?" Galanoth gasped.

"That's how portals work. If you can't get all of your body parts through in time, they get separated from you body," Imelza said in a matter-of-fact way as she healed herself. "It's normally painless and no blood is shed. Of course, some people get their heads cut off. I'll have to tell you that it is very surprising when you open a portal and a few seconds later, a head tumbles out. Anyway, it happens. It's called splicing." She paused for a moment. "The same thing happens during teleportation really. If you aren't fully in the vicini-" She was cut off by Dante.

"You have a term for it?" Dante asked in disbelief. Imelza shrugged indifferently as she attempted to pry the claw off.

"Why not? It happens often enough. We can't really say 'I lost my -insert body part or parts here- when I couldn't get through a portal quickly enough' every single time it happens. Takes far too much time. And that especially isn't good in the middle of a battle when you just arrived through a portal. Of course, if your head got cut off, there really wouldn't be a point in saying that because it really is quite obv-" She was cut off again.

"Point."

"Holy-" Artix cut of his sentence there as everyone's head snapped up. Another collective gasp.

"This can't be good," Dante noted. He received a smack on the head from Linn and got his face pushed into the ground, courtesy of Galanoth.

The Ethereal Realm was a complete mess. After escaping from near death, none of them had bothered to check the environment around them. The sky was pulsating a sickly shade of green and the ground was a swirl of violet and yellow. The trees were practically bent double and had lost every single one their leaves. Mountains were crumbling to the ground, bits of grit floating like ashes on the wind. The sun was flickering in and out of sight, hiding in ghastly clouds of thick orange smoke.

"What happened here?" Galanoth asked softly.

"It's the Crystal," Imelza said, not taking her eyes off the horrific sight. "Something is wrong with it."

"That's quite obvious now," Linn said.

"Yes, I agree with her." Artix walked around a detoriorating hill, nearly dropping his axe when he saw what was on the other side. "What is this thing!?"

--

I am officially brain-dead as to what Artix sees behind the hill. I seriously need help here.


End file.
